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Labour in Government stood over chaos in justice - Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD

Sinn
Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has stated that Labour in government
slashed garda numbers, closed stations and stood over the chaos that
Fine Gael brought to the justice portfolio.

Speaking today, Deputy Mac Lochlainn said,

"Labour party stood over the chaos that Fine Gael brought to the Justice portfolio.

"Chaos
that led to the Minister for Justice, the Secretary General of the
Department of Justice, the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Confidential
Recipient all having to resign.

"The
Labour Party has been in government for the past five years. They
rubber stamped the decision to close 139 Garda stations across the
country. They rubber stamped the loss of around 2,500 Gardaí.

"It
is no coincidence that the number of burglary and related offences has
gone up by 1,660 in the last year or that the number of harassments and
assaults has increased by 1,995; it is a direct result of Government
policies of slashing Garda resources.

"The Labour party is the party of broken promises and people will not be
taken in by more promises made in the mouth of an election.

Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Defence continued,

“There is much work to do to mend the failings of this government.

“Sinn
Féin is committed to recruiting 3,000 additional An Garda Síochána over
our term in government, resorting force levels to 14,250.

“We
will reverse the closure of Garda stations. We will also ensure that An
Garda Síochána works in partnership with the PSNI on the new task force
to tackle the cross border criminality that plagues communities.

“People
are living in fear due to increased crime levels as a result of
abdication of responsibility by successive governments. A Sinn Féin led
progressive government can rectify this.” ENDS